This past week we visited Disney World. While there we watched the short film Piper by Pixar, and it’s about a hungry baby sandpiper learning to overcome her fear of the water in an effort to find food along the shoreline. Watch below.

As I watched this film just a few weeks post-miscarriage, I quickly found myself relating to the tiny bird. The moment she gets washed over by the massive wave reminded me of the weeks just before, during and after my miscarriage. Miscarriage feels like a setback. It wasn’t in my plans to go through this physical and emotional loss. On top of that there's the element of surprise and uncertainty about what’s next. So much like getting caught in a wave.

A little bit later in the film, when the sandpiper goes into the water with the crab, she digs her feet deep in the sand. Then the crab tells her to open her eyes as the wave washes over, and she suddenly sees all of the food in the water in front of them. In some ways, that’s also what happened during my miscarriage. My eyes were opened, and I learned that while the wave is unnerving and powerful, it is also something that will pass, that I'm strong enough to get through—and when I open my eyes there’s something positive to discover below the surface.